Mommy Needs a Vacation. Have truer words ever been uttered? And this week’s Blog Friend Feature was brilliant enough to grab that as the name of her blog. She’s hilarious and real. She’s on my list of bloggers I absolutely must meet IRL some day. We’d share massive amounts of wine and have a blast.
Meet Rachel of Mommy Needs a Vacation:
Before I begin my rant (and yes it is a rant!), I would just like to thank Shell for featuring me here today! You rock lady and I love your brutal honesty!
Summer is my favorite season of the year.
I love the sunshine.
I love the 85-degree California days.
I love wearing flip-flops.
I love being tan.
I love a nice chilled Chardonnay.
I love eating pounds and pounds of fresh corn on the cob.
BUT….
There are a few major downsides to the summer season.
1) The kids are home ALL.OF.THE.TIME. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my kids. I love spending time with them. But they are a pain in the ass sometimes. Especially during the summer season when I have them ALL.DAY.EVERYDAY.TO.MYSELF.
2) Which leads me to…there is NO SCHOOL in the summer. Yes, yes…there are summer camps and such, but they do not have the same structure as the school year. Even though this coming school year I only have preschool drop off a few mornings a week, I am literally marking off the days on the calendar until school starts with large black X’s. The blessed day this year….August 24th. School = Structure = Alone Time = Happy Mom.
3) The Pool. I hate the pool. I used to love the pool…before I had kids. It was my nice quiet time to relax and soak up some sunshine. Now the pool means total craziness and chaos. Since my kids are still very young, I spend my time at the pool on drowning watch. Being a lifeguard is not fun. I should know since I actually was a lifeguard during summers in high school. Now, I spend the entire “pool time” hovering over my children and picking them up out of the water every time they go face down. Which is like every 3 minutes. So if we go to the pool for 2 hours that calculates to 40 drowning saves. Times 2 kids = 80 drowning saves. That doesn’t count the times I turn my back for one second and some bigger kid tackles my 2 year old and holds him under water. So, yeah…I hate the pool.
4) Which leads me to shaving. Even though I live in California where it is warm more of the year than not, I have to shave my legs and bikini line WAY more than I want to in the summer. I am lucky enough if I actually make it into the shower on a daily basis as a stay-at-home mom, let alone actually have enough time to SHAVE! But since I take my kids to the pool so much, I have to shave. WHY do I even take them to the pool? Less pool time means less shaving time.
5) Summer season means longer days. Longer days mean lots of outside light. Outside light means that the kids stay up later because it is too bright to go to bed. If my little angels sat quietly and played nicely outside so that I could peacefully sip my wine during these extra hours of light, it wouldn’t bother me as much that they stayed up later. But alas, they do not. These longer days also mean a lot less time for Twitter, wine drinking, and all around quiet time at night. Mama needs her Twitter and wine!
6) These longer days with more outside light also means that the kids are up earlier by a good 30 minutes. I like to sleep. When the kids get up 30 minutes earlier, I lose sleep. When I lose sleep, I am cranky. When I am cranky, I am the mom with no patience for her kids. And on and on it goes….
Even after complaining about all of these downsides to summer, I know deep down inside that I should be savoring these summer moments with my children. Once they are older, they won’t want to do anything with me during the summer. But for now, all I want is a little ME time. A little down time. A little peace and quiet that only the fall and school year can bring.
Summer is my favorite season of the year.
I love the sunshine.
I love the 85-degree California days.
I love wearing flip-flops.
I love being tan.
I love a nice chilled Chardonnay.
I love eating pounds and pounds of fresh corn on the cob.
BUT….
There are a few major downsides to the summer season.
1) The kids are home ALL.OF.THE.TIME. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my kids. I love spending time with them. But they are a pain in the ass sometimes. Especially during the summer season when I have them ALL.DAY.EVERYDAY.TO.MYSELF.
2) Which leads me to…there is NO SCHOOL in the summer. Yes, yes…there are summer camps and such, but they do not have the same structure as the school year. Even though this coming school year I only have preschool drop off a few mornings a week, I am literally marking off the days on the calendar until school starts with large black X’s. The blessed day this year….August 24th. School = Structure = Alone Time = Happy Mom.
3) The Pool. I hate the pool. I used to love the pool…before I had kids. It was my nice quiet time to relax and soak up some sunshine. Now the pool means total craziness and chaos. Since my kids are still very young, I spend my time at the pool on drowning watch. Being a lifeguard is not fun. I should know since I actually was a lifeguard during summers in high school. Now, I spend the entire “pool time” hovering over my children and picking them up out of the water every time they go face down. Which is like every 3 minutes. So if we go to the pool for 2 hours that calculates to 40 drowning saves. Times 2 kids = 80 drowning saves. That doesn’t count the times I turn my back for one second and some bigger kid tackles my 2 year old and holds him under water. So, yeah…I hate the pool.
4) Which leads me to shaving. Even though I live in California where it is warm more of the year than not, I have to shave my legs and bikini line WAY more than I want to in the summer. I am lucky enough if I actually make it into the shower on a daily basis as a stay-at-home mom, let alone actually have enough time to SHAVE! But since I take my kids to the pool so much, I have to shave. WHY do I even take them to the pool? Less pool time means less shaving time.
5) Summer season means longer days. Longer days mean lots of outside light. Outside light means that the kids stay up later because it is too bright to go to bed. If my little angels sat quietly and played nicely outside so that I could peacefully sip my wine during these extra hours of light, it wouldn’t bother me as much that they stayed up later. But alas, they do not. These longer days also mean a lot less time for Twitter, wine drinking, and all around quiet time at night. Mama needs her Twitter and wine!
6) These longer days with more outside light also means that the kids are up earlier by a good 30 minutes. I like to sleep. When the kids get up 30 minutes earlier, I lose sleep. When I lose sleep, I am cranky. When I am cranky, I am the mom with no patience for her kids. And on and on it goes….
Even after complaining about all of these downsides to summer, I know deep down inside that I should be savoring these summer moments with my children. Once they are older, they won’t want to do anything with me during the summer. But for now, all I want is a little ME time. A little down time. A little peace and quiet that only the fall and school year can bring.
{Are you ready for summer to be over or do you actually like spending time with your kids?}
No, I don't want summer to be over… means I have to go back to work. I'm with you on the shaving… I think laser-hair-removal has moved to the top of my If-I-had-Money-for-Cosmetic-Surgery List!
I am so conflicted about summer this year! I want it to be over so I can be less busy…and then I don't! arggh
So me telling ya'll that mine are already back in school is not what you want to hear. It was so miserable here this summer my kids were indoors for much of it.
I have to watch JDaniel like a hawk when he is near water.
I am so with you girl. Ready Freddy for summer to be over. Come on September!
And here we are ready for everyone to go back to school so that we can spend our mornings drinking steamers and reading in an empty Barnes and Noble. 🙂
I will still have one home with me, but the older two – let's call them the fighting cats – they will be in school.
I may have smiled a teeny bit there….
As a working mom, I can only really relate to the one about the extra hours of sunlight. My kids hate going to bed while the neighbor kids are still outside playing. It makes bedtime a nightmare!!
Oh, I needed this laugh today. I live in Florida so I too hate shaving. Also, I'm so glad I am not the only one who doesn't get to shower daily!
I'm about done with summer myself. Sure, it was fun for a while, but so is beating your head against a brick wall. Oh, wait…
Those extra hours of daylight are horrendous! I love the sun, but I also love when my kids sleep.
I do love being home with my kids in the summer, but come August I'm done. They need a break from each other and I need a break from the constant "I'm bored" and "I'm hungry".
The shaving thing. Seriously, can we discuss? OMG. Why do we even have freakin' leg hair? C'mon evolution I mean catch up!
Oh I love summer so much I never want it to end. I am a working mom which makes the kids off from school even more complicated and annoying if you can believe it. It is a massive juggling act, and the reason why I am sitting home right now instead of at work (no childcare today). Even though we had an incredibly busy summer with almost no down time I still love it, but then again I live in MA where the alternative is snow. yeah I hate winter.
shaving your legs does get annoying though
I am so with you on this!! We are at the pool and I'm in constant fear they will be floating face down. Add to it the extra sun time, and loss of shower and shave time and I'm a mess!!!
Grrrr…I hate the pool too…for the exact reasons you mentioned, and so many others.
I'm NOT a religious person, but all I can say is "Amen, Sister!!!" I am SO ready for school to start up. Mommy needs a schedule and a little alone time. Or a lot of alone time. To add insult to injury, my kids are SICK this week. So I am trapped in the house with people who vomit on my couch and cling to my leg, wiping snot on me as they wail. Nice.
We still seem to be waiting for summer to start here in Seattle. (LoL)
I have been known to wear pants to work on a 100+ degree day just to avoid having to shave my legs when I don't feel like it. Come on, cold weather!!!
Thanks so much for having me here today Shell!! xoxo
She is a riot!!!
~Becca
I got to meet Rachael at BlogHer. She is AWESOME!
Rachel rocks and yes, you girls WOULD totally get along! I want to be there too when you meet just to see the smiles and hugs! 😀 Oh and to share a glass too… he he.
Very good points- especially the shaving! It really is a pain.. if I had a lot of extra money lying around I would seriously consider laser hair removal.
Summer's almost over, Rachel! I can almost hear the school bus coming around the corner….
Love Rachel and have a love/hate relationship with summer too. The WORST part of it for me is applying sunscreen to wiggling kids over and over.
I could use some quiet time, but mine are really little, and I will only get a 6 hour break in the fall (the toddler will still be home, but Abbey will be starting preschool.)
I want alone time but cry when I think about her going to school. I blame the tears on the lack of sleep.
while Fall is my all time fave season, I'm a fan of Summer. But I get to escape to work monday thru friday, so I actually don't mind the kids all up in my grill for a few hours a night 🙂
BFFs rule!
I'm right there with you with the hatred of the pool. I used to love the pool – it was fun. It was mindless. If I got hot, I went in. If I wasn't in the pool, I could sit poolside and have a cocktail.
Now, yeah, being at the pool is just constant lifeguard duty. I keep hearing that there is a magical age where I can go back to being the drunk dad who passes out in the sun & gets horribly burned, but it's not here for me yet. And it's not on the horizon (my oldest of two is not yet two). So, I'll hate the pool for some time – even though my kids absolutely love it.
And, the beach is worse.
I've been counting down school since the beginning of July…
I'm so ready!
good feature blogger Shell!
I am so ready for school to start it is not even funny. I am sick and tired of coming up with things for the kids to do.
Oh and this will make you feel better, we have almost 4 weeks of stupid summer vacation to do.
Woot for Rachel being here!
I'll let you know about summer and school this time next year. Then I'll be able to feel the relief that is summer vacation.
The pool has become a nightmare for me. And if we stay somewhere that has pool within sight, my 19mo will scream and cry that she wants to go into the pool all day and night.
Summer over = back to work for me!
Amen.Amen.Amen.Amen. Right now – my kids are screaming through a "nap." *sigh* I know nap time is over. I just caught Andrew hanging from a picture frame last time I went in to yell at(I mean check on)them. Is it bad if I don't want to be a SAHM… I really just want to be a SAH (while my kids go to school / daycare)?
And Shell – I want to be a BFF. Like, yesterday. Thanks:)
Kristen@www.alittlesomethingforme.com
Hahaha! The pool…sigh…I can totally relate. My kids LOVE the pool! So we go most days, and after that? I'm ready for a beer (since I don't really like wine).
Anyways, great feature! I'm off to check you out!
Thank you for explaining why I've gone to the pool exactly two times so far this summer. With a 3 and 1-year-old, it was just too much. Next year. Maybe.
And I get it about going to school. My oldest just started preschool and now I wish I could have them both to go every day for the whole morning. Too bad they won't take the baby yet. We all need that balance in our lives. Too much kid-time and we *all* go nuts, including them!
Summer is a total trade off for sure! But the BEST part is that cocktail hour can start at 4pm… or at least it does for me!!
Great BFF Shell!! Love this girl!
If we actually had Summer Weather this year it would be harder to let it go. But since we've had fall like weather all friggin summer long which translates to the kids being inside more, fighting more, and driving me batty even more than normal…I'd say, yeah I'm ready for "summer" to be over!
Great BFF! Amen to everything she said. I doubt truer words have been spoken.
I'm definitely ready for school to start. Although I do feel a bit guilty for not spending enough "quality time" and sending the kids to camps most weeks of summer. But they have a lot more fun at camp than will me trying to figure out how to keep them entertained.
The extra daylight is WORSE up here in Washington! My kids just have to deal with going to bed when it's still light out.
I get exactly what you're talking about. LOVE our kids TO DEATH, but balance is the key to happiness and there just isn't the balance of time with them and time without them in the summer (for SAHMs anyway).
It's nice to know other women hate shaving.
My pool visits are a little scary for us too. We have the floaties for all my kids, but my two youngest wouldn't wear them last time. We haven't been since.
Oh my gosh, I loved this. I felt like I was writing it. I so understand. I am counting the days until I get my child in kindergarten, and my daughter starts preschool. I'm so tired of hearing the TV during my daughter's nap which is what my son does so I can sit down. Thanks for sharing.
Ha! I agree with everything you said. My kids are older, which means fewer drowning watches, but it also means an even later bedtime.
Great post.
Pool time = giant panic attack for me too…one is petrified and the other has no fear. Not good! I actually don't mind the summer though…I hate the stress of getting to preschool on time. I like the lazy mornings 🙂
Great post! Agreed on every point! I laughed about the shaving, because I just said that to the hubs the other day, before we were headed to the pool. Which, by the way, is not a relaxing place. I sit there on high alert, ready to dive in at any second to make a save. Exhausting.
I, too, adore the crap out of my shorties, but August 24 will be s joyful day 'round these parts. At least for me!
I couldn't agree more and I only have 1 kid, who's not even in school yet. The 24th will be here before you know it and I look forward to seeing you more active on Twitter 😉 There are wonderful things about summer but it's definitely not my favorite. Too hot in NYC to really love it.
I couldn't agree more and I only have 1 kid, who's not even in school yet. The 24th will be here before you know it and I look forward to seeing you more active on Twitter 😉 There are wonderful things about summer but it's definitely not my favorite. Too hot in NYC to really love it.
I'm ready for summer to be over, even though as we head into the last 10 days of it, I'm getting sad too. But you are right – structure = my favorite word at this time of year.
Great guester! I can tell she and I would be fab friends!
Love this post, its so true summers great but.. Hey at least school starts on August 24 in NYC school starts Thursday Sept 8 which means working parents after take off from work or trade off babysitting with other families. UGH, I hate to denigrate teachers but this is such the teachers union thing why we start on Thursday.
Just came across your blog randomly browsing on SITS girls!! So inspiring it is… 🙂 lol to have 2k+ followers?? wow. wow. wow.
http://www.siddysays.com
I love summer, but the start of school is starting to look pretty good!
I love spending the summer with my kids! It's never long enough for us since our district has year-round school. We go back on July 26 and they were out on June 11. Some tracks have an even shorter summer. There is barely time to get in the vacation, swimming lessons, picnics at the park, summer reading…
Sandy
Yes. All my black sharpies are out of ink from marking off the calendar.
I don't use X's. I use big, fat, smiling Happy Faces…
Because I can't wait for August 24th.
I know. Meanest mom ever.
But also honest. Cheers to the first day of school and giving our razors a break…
I kind of enjoy the pool with my kids only because it's the only time during the week they aren't saying I'm bored or I'm hungry.
I would hate to shave my legs that frequently, too (never mind being on drowning patrol the entire time you're at the pool!).
Great post!
Ugh. I love this. Because I hate these same things. But you know what? I have my kid all the time because she isn't in school yet, so I'm jealous of your future break. SO I want summer to be over so we can actually go outside and not DIE from the heat. Oy.